I have arrived at Swansea University from the University of Exeter where I held a position of a Lecturer in Quantitative Social Sciences. I also hold a PhD in Politics from the University of Nottingham.

My research interests include political participation and representation of under-represented groups such as women, ethnic and religious minorities in Western democracies, especially in Britain. I am also interested in how identity-based predictors shape the political attitudes and behaviours of political elites and members of public. I predominantly use quantitative and mixed methods methodologies in my research and apply them to analyse survey and text data.

My teaching and supervision overlap with my research interest and are informed by my previous and current research.

PO-100How Politics and IR count

There are many indicators in Politics and IR that try to express in numerical form some information about countries. Similar to University league tables, such indicators allow us to compare for instance how well particular countries have accomplished specific goals (Human development index, gender development index, etc.) or to judge the quality of their institutions (Varieties of Democracy, Freedom House, etc.). But what is an indicator, how are these compiled and above all, by whom? In this module you will become acquainted with the purpose of quantification, its pitfalls, and advantages. We will discuss what data is, what to watch out for in measurement, and explore public opinions surveys and the use of social media such as twitter in data generation. By the end of the module you will know how to summarize data, interpret data in tabular and graphical form and have gained a solid understanding of the most common data used by governments, international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, and scholars to analyze questions in human development, comparative politics, conflict studies and international relations. Hence, at the end of the module you will feel more comfortable around numbers and will be a knowledgeable and confident consumer of numerical information.

PO-125What is Politics and International Relations?

This module has two aims. Firstly, the module will introduce students to a set of key study skills needed in order to undertake the study of Politics and International Relations, including ways of presenting arguments in essays or seminar presentations, learning where and how to find information needed to construct arguments about politics and IR, and provide a brief introduction to some of the methods that political scientists use to study the world of politics and IR. Secondly, it seeks to introduce students to different frameworks through which politics and IR can be studied by focusing on the deceptively simple question of what is politics and IR?

PO-209The State and Political Institutions

This module allows participants to explore and scrutinize some of the key contemporary debates on the state and political institution within the framework of comparative political science ¿ or comparative politics. Comparative politics involves describing, comparing, and explaining political phenomena around the world. It asks questions such as how do different countries¿ political systems compare to one another and why are they similar or different? Why are some countries democratic while others are authoritarian? How do states become democratic? What effect does having a presidential form of government rather than a parliamentary one have on public policy outputs? How do rules for elections differ across countries and what effects do they have on politics? Why do some countries have a multiparty political system while others have a two-party system?
This course will help you answer these questions and will provide you with the tools to tackle more complex questions in comparative politics. Rather than studying a handful of countries in detail, we will concentrate on taking a scientific approach to studying comparative politics. We will emphasize important concepts, theories, and empirical questions and research findings. You will have the opportunity to focus on politics in one specific country (see country assignments below). However, the goal is not to make you experts on specific countries, but rather to give you the tools to study countries comparatively and help you to understand why politics looks the way it does around the world.

PO-3121Parliamentary Studies

Parliamentary Studies is delivered in partnership between academic staff in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies and Parliamentary officials from the Westminster Parliament Education Outreach Team. Swansea is one of only thirteen universities in the UK sanctioned to provide this module, with the support of the Clerks of the House of Commons and House of Lords. The module combines coverage of theoretical, historical and contemporary research on the role and operation of the UK Parliament with detailed insights of the workings of Parliament and its relations with other parliamentary institutions. This includes coverage of such issues as the role of select committees and House of Lords reform, as well as the relationships between the UK Parliament, the European Parliament and the devolved Parliaments and Assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The module includes tuition both by lecturers in the department and officials from the Parliament Education Outreach Team. It also includes a field trip to the UK Parliament.

PO-395Dissertation (PO-325)

Subject to the approval of the Departmental Dissertations Tutor, students will choose their own area for research. They will be given guidance on research skills and techniques and supervised by a specialist research topic supervisor during the research for, and writing of, their dissertation. Dissertation word length - 8000 words.

PO-397Researching Politics 2

This module offers students a valuable experience of both individual and collective research - as well as the opportunity to study in depth an important aspect of Politics and International Relations. Students extend and deepen the research undertaken in PO-396 Researching Politics 1 and continue to meet regularly in order to share ideas, opinions and sources. In these meetings, students evaluate, criticise and analyse issues concerning the topic under investigation. Minutes of the meetings are kept and the meetings are conducted with a view to arriving at a common position that will serve as the basis for producing a collectively authored report and presentation. Each student in the group also produces a shorter individual report on their own experience of Researching Politics, in the course of which they reflect on their individual contribution to the groups output. This self-assessment is validated by the other members of the group.

PO-M25Dissertation

Individual research based, under the guidance of appointed supervisor.

PO-M84Gender and the Social Sciences

Gender and the Social Sciences is a key module for the MA in Gender and Culture programme. It explores the main feminist approaches applied in Politics and International Relations and evaluates their contribution to the field of social sciences. The module also considers cultural interpretations and accommodations of gender in the society starting from the origins of gender roles to how they manifest across social sciences in such areas as household, work, media, political and social conflict, local and national politics. Examining these case studies will enable students to understand the complexities of interpreting practices of responding to gender in a globalised world, as well as focusing on the issues of gender and cross-sectional inequality more generally.

POA301Dissertation in Parliamentary Studies

The Dissertation in Parliamentary Studies provides an opportunity for students who have undertaken the module, Parliamentary Studies, to do further sustained study on one aspect of parliamentary studies. Students will receive academic supervision and feedback from within the Department of Political and Cultural Studies, and will receive advice on accessing primary and printed sources from members of the Houses of Parliament Education Outreach Team.

This group focuses on the study of parliament and our members include single country specialists as well as those with comparative interests. It is a specialist group of the Political Studies Association (PSA).